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Izuku received death threats every school day since he was four. And every day those comments hurt a little more. He’d get to his desk in the morning and see it was covered in black sharpie telling him how much of a waste of space he was. How the world would be better off without a useless, quirkless deku like him.
After a few years, he stopped wiping the hurtful words off.
Then one day, his teacher let the class know he wanted to go to UA. And everyone laughed at him. Kacchan threatened him. Told him to jump off a roof. All Might told him he couldn’t be a hero. Not without a quirk.
And because of Izuku’s stupid actions, the sludge monster almost killed his childhood friend. Oh, sure, he threw his bag at the puke-green monster and gave Kacchan a chance to breathe. But that was it. He could never be a real hero. As the only quirkless person he knew, Izuku was doomed to live an empty life.
After being yelled at by a bunch of pros for putting himself in danger, he collected his things and headed home. It was time he gave up on his dreams. Honestly, he should’ve given up on them years ago.
But who was he without his dreams? Some kid who knew too much about heroes? When would any of his dumb notebooks come in handy for someone like him?
Izuku changed direction.
Without heroes, his life was meaningless. And, since THE number one hero of ALL TIME told him to give up on trying to be one, he might as well just find someplace high up and . . . How did Kacchan say it? “Take a swan dive off the roof”?
Yeah, Izuku could do that. But which roof should he choose?
“DEKU!”
A familiar voice shouted from behind him and Izuku turned around.
“Hey, Kacchan,” Izuku waved. It was a little weird to him that his suicidal brain stopped him from stuttering.
“You didn’t save me!” Kacchan yelled once he caught up to the greenette. “You got that, Deku!? I was fine on my own! I don’t owe you!”
“Yeah, got it. Thanks,” Izuku nodded and watched his childhood friend turn and start to walk away. But then a thought struck him.
“Hey, wait,” he ran after the blond, earning a sneer and a shove, which was honestly expected.
“The hell do you want, Deku?”
“Would you care if I didn’t show up to school tomorrow?” Izuku asked, genuinely curious.
“Why in the fuck would you ask me that? Of course I don’t care!” Kacchan shoved him again and started stomping away.
“That’s great!” Izuku smiled. It wasn’t his normal, bright smile. No, this one belonged to a dead man. Or a soon-to-be-dead man. Kid. Teen? “Kacchan, would you mind putting a spider lily on my desk tomorrow?”
The blond stopped and turned around. “Why the fuck would I do that?”
Izuku shrugged. “I dunno. I just think it would be nice to have someone pretend to care.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and began walking away. Normally, that would be the end of their conversation. But for whatever reason, Kacchan ran back over to him.
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean,” Izuku rolled his eyes and smiled again. “I’m gonna take your advice! Oh! D’you wanna help me pick a roof? Choose somewhere high. I don’t want to fail.”
The greenette began walking away again, but a hand that was surprisingly unhurtful grabbed his arm.
“You serious, Deku?”
Izuku nodded, not looking at him. “Sure! You point to a building, I’ll jump off its roof! You can even push me if you want!” the boy paused and frowned. “Wait, no. That would be murder. Or assisted suicide. Choosing the roof I swan dive off of probably also counts as assisted suicide, huh? They might not let you be a hero if they found out you helped someone kill themself.”
“Deku, wait.”
“You know what? Just go home. Put a pretty flower on my desk. Or don’t. I’ll be dead, so it’s not like I’ll know.” Izuku tried to pull his arm free of the other boy’s grasp, but Kacchan held tight.
“De- Izuku,” the blond said in a tone that the greenette had never heard before. Izuku turned to look at him and saw the blond’s face twisted with so many emotions he couldn’t figure out where one ended and another began.
“Yes, Katsuki? Do you have a rooftop suggestion?”
“No. But I . . .” Kacchan’s voice faded. Izuku could almost see gears turning in his head. “I- I’m gonna stay at your place tonight.”
Izuku drew his brows together in a frown. “Why? I won’t be there.”
“Y-yes, you will. C’mon. We’re having a sleepover.” The blond pulled Izuku back onto the path home.
“You hate sleepovers,” Izuku commented. “You think they’re stupid.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve changed my mind. In fact, I’m gonna stay at your place all week. I- I think I’ve got a lot of time to make up for.”
The greenette was about to respond when the muscled form of All Might appeared in front of them.
“I AM HE-” he deflated and hacked up blood.
“Yo! What the fuck!?” Kacchan yelled, stepping in front of Izuku. “Who the hell are you!?”
“It’s alright,” the greenette said. “That’s All Might. He deflates sometimes. All Might, this is Kacchan.” The blond looked between the skeletal man and his classmate.
“How do you know that?”
“It was an accident,” Izuku said with a shrug. “He told me I can’t be a hero and left me on a rooftop.”
“He did what? ” The blond glared at the man and Izuku noted that the hero took a step back.
“I did,” All Might admitted. “But I was wrong. After seeing him take action when so many heroes stood by . . . I believe young Midoriya can be a great hero.” Izuku stared at him, blankly.
“. . . Not without a quirk.” The greenette added, deadpan.
“I might be able to help with that, actually,” All Might said, taking a step closer to the two boys. Kacchan stepped between them.
“How?” he asked in the most accusatory tone Izuku had ever heard.
“Young man, it’s a bit of a secret. If you could step aside for a moment so I can talk with your friend-”
“Hell, no,” Kacchan shook his head several times and crossed his arms. “Whatever you want to tell him you can say in front of me.”
“Kacchan, it’s fine. All Might’s not a bad guy.”
“Yeah? Well, I don’t intend to let him leave you on another fucking rooftop. If he won’t say it in front of me, he’s not saying it to you.”
There was a moment when Izuku looked at his childhood friend with confusion. Why was he being so . . . protective all of the sudden?
All Might looked between the two boys and wondered if the angry one was trustworthy.
Kacchan glared at the Symbol of Peace.
“If you promise not to repeat this to anyone else,” All Might said at last. “Then I will tell you both.”
And he did. He told the two middle-schoolers his deepest secret. He told Izuku he would give his quirk to him. He said to meet him early the next morning at Dagobah beach. Kacchan said they’d be there. His tone said his presence was not up for discussion.
They parted and Izuku allowed himself to be led home. He was . . . very confused. Kacchan let himself into the Midoriya apartment and they went to Izuku’s room where they sat together on the bed.
“Kacchan?”
“Hmm?”
“Why are you acting so weird?”
The blond boy slouched. “Because I’m a fuckin’ idiot. I didn’t know this before, but yes. I would be absolutely devastated if you didn’t show up for school. If you- if you died I would cry. I would cry so damn much. And I’d feel so, so bad because I know it’d be my fault!” Kacchan burst into tears, pulling Izuku into a hug as he apologized over and over for everything. Izuku tried to make him feel better, but eventually, he began crying, too.
The next morning, Kacchan walked with Izuku to the beach and didn’t leave until he was confident that the quirkless teen was in good hands. When it was time for him to leave, Izuku headed for school, and for the first time in years, Izuku arrived to see his desk was clean of hateful words. Kacchan greeted him and they talked together until class started.
For the next several months, the two boys were nigh-inseparable. Kacchan went out of his way to be the best friend Izuku could have. “I have a lot to make up for,” he’d say whenever the greenette tried to tell him he didn’t have to do anything for him. In time, Izuku shared his notebooks with the blond.
Izuku got into UA with his best friend by his side. And together, they became the greatest heroes in the world.